The Secret to Building the Practice of Your Dreams

Could you sum up all the secrets to success in practice and perhaps even life in two words? I think I can… And I am going to tell you on this page, without the need for you to subscribe to my free e-report, or register to a cheap tele-seminar, or commit to twelve months of direct debited coaching: Instead you are going to receive 100% free, unconditional wisdom!

Here is the first word – but before I tell you I’d like to introduce you to my life changing program: Just kidding – The word is “Relationships”. Everything you do in life and the outcomes of your thoughts, beliefs and behaviours comes down to this one complex biochemistry term.

Invest time and energy into healthy relationships in any domain of life and you will achieve success in that area. Ignore, abuse or neglect this facet of life and I guarantee that any success will be short-lived, hollow and most likely lonely.

Now I am not just talking about human relationships here – this principle can be applied to EVERYTHING!

Let’s break this down first – to a microscopic level. Would your DNA, RNA and enzymes function if the relationships between the C, N, O & H are incoherent? You could have a soup of the individual atoms, or even nucleotides, but unless the relationships between the components are aligned then organic chaos will prevail.

On a human level health and wellbeing depends upon healthy relationships between every single cell. To understand this in technical terms one should spend time researching the topics of Tensegrity (see tensegrity-and-chiropractic/) and Neural Holography (see holographic-brain-model-and-chiropractic/) . As chiropractors we have simplified this down to the model that the central nervous system controls and regulates every cell in every body. To claim this requires greater understanding beyond action potentials and perhaps our pioneers were closest to the truth when coining the term “mental impulse”.

Now I know some vocal contemporary chiropractic academics dismiss the mental impulse as nonsense, but these same authors fail to supply a modus operandi for chiropractic beyond pain transmission and a shallow hypothesis that stimulating proprioceptors inhibits C fibres, and that’s that. This may be an accurate small picture, but as always there is a bigger picture – and an even bigger idea.

Within a family, relationship is pivotal –when relationships break down, families decay. And we could continue to illustrate the vitality of relationships within groups, organisations, cultures and populations. Let’s face it crime and war are the most pathological manifestations of relationship breakdown.

Which brings us to the second foundational word for success in all things = “Communication”. Relationships only work when communication flows. Relationships are like the structure and communication the function. Why would RNA be so important to human existence? Because it communicates the message stored in DNA. Why do we dare to claim that the nervous system is the most important system of the body? Because it is the means of communication in the human body – afferent and efferent. Relationships within a family are only sustained by communication. Why do entertainers get paid such ridiculous wages? Because they are perceived to be the masters of communication…

Now let’s bring this into the realms of chiropractic practice.

At our most prehistoric level we propose the importance of the relationship between adjacent vertebrae, and how the disruption of these relationships leads to at least pain and perhaps also bodily dysfunction. And the relationship between adjacent vertebrae hinges upon communication – Biofeedback between neighbours that enables coordinated alignment and movement.

Many use Xrays to analyse and demonstrate these relationships between neighbouring bones, but a more instantaneous and non-invasive assessment tool is postural analysis. The downside of postural analysis is that if you lack technology to measure and record postural relationships your assessment will be too subjective to mean much: But when in ownership of technology that objectively illustrates the breakdown in postural relationships a chiropractor possesses a tool that can be meaningful to his clinical decision making, a practice member’s comprehension of need for care and progress under care, and has the added bonus of being able to demonstrate clinical necessity and efficacy to a third party (see Posture-Pro-Software.htm) .

Posture is the most global expression of relationship and communication in a person – why would someone carry their head which weighs as much as a bowling ball more than two inches in front of their shoulders when this uses more energy and creates more stress on all the supporting structures? Because of breakdown in relationship between the head and the torso, and an obvious disconnect in communication about where that person’s head is located in space. Why would someone carry their head too far forwards – because they don’t know it is there!

Healthy relationships between human cells, tissues and organs depend on this same dance between relationship and communication. And chiropractic knows better than every other healing profession that this all flows up and down via the central nervous system. Jay holder describes chiropractic as “communication through touch”. When we are analysing someone’s spinal and neural state we are asking the person’s body pertinent questions – “where do you want to be adjusted and how?” That is if you have ownership of a technique that teaches you these questions – if not then you must be imposing some external recipe of when and how to adjust.

And then your adjustment needs to be healing communication – “a correctional vector with intent” – are you adjusting each person in the way that their body is giving permission to be adjusted, or are you imposing your will on the baddest, stiffest, crookedest bone or joints? (See Torque-Release-Discount.htm) I hope that you possess the technical skills that give you clear communication from a person’s spinal column about where the vertebral relationships have become disconnected and the best approach to communicate the need for adjustment to that person’s nervous system.

Now look at the person from a wider view and if you can comprehend the definition of Subluxation as a “separation from wholeness” – then you will start to see how breakdown in the relationships within the Cranio-Spinal-Meningeal-Functional-Unit results in interference with communication within the central nervous system which will include disorders in pain, emotion, coordination and regulation. And suddenly the intent of each adjustment you deliver takes on wider and deeper implications for the individual and the community that surrounds them.

Then the other side of the formula are the human relationships and communication that either build or shrink your practice numbers. The only problem that I have with scripts in practice management is that they are usually uni-directional and that reeks of relationship deficiency and communication minimisation: The only scripts I endorse are questions – relationship builders and communication initiators. Take a look at your own scripts and see if there is some way that you can rephrase them as questions.

I can sense some of you cringing at this point – “if I ask my practice member’s a question I don’t have time to stand around waiting to hear the answer.” Here is my advice to you – be very good at hiring great team members – team members who will compensate for your own inability to build deeper relationships, and nurture meaningful communication! Sounds harsh but could be the best advice I could ever give to you?

Now what are the symptoms in your practice that you need some adjustments to your relationships and communication?

1) Insufficient new patients – The Universe will supply you as many new patients as you have the capacity to develop relationships and communication pathways with. If you want more new patients, before you invest huge amounts of money into a marketing campaign, investigate how you can increase your capacity to initiate a relationship and effectively communicate with a larger patient base.

2) Poor patient retention – If people are dropping out of care prematurely then it is time to investigate your ability to maintain ongoing relationships and to keep communication pathways open. As soon as a practice member smells any degree of disinterest or misunderstanding between you, they will leave. The skills of developing a lasting clinical relationship are not the same as those needed to maintain a long lasting romantic relationship so don’t make the mistake of thinking that I am suggesting you have to become everybody’s best friend.

3) Poor team morale or high staff turnover – If your staff aren’t especially happy to be at work, or they leave for something better not long after you have finished training them then you may need to work to build better relationships and communication within your team.

I understand that this piece may be sounding hypothetical or at least metaphorical but I hope that you can contemplate the applicability and simplicity of these two concepts – Relationship and Communication. And if you are willing to invest some time to brainstorm this in your own life circles I believe you will find a holistic way of prioritising your energies. For example – your technique – take a look and review of your “treatment” system is improving relationships and communication in your practice members’ bodies? And do you have the means to determine that you are achieving this? And are your team members aligned in their procedures to maximise relationship and communication within your office? And when you finally leave your office are you investing adequate time and energy into all the other key relationships in your own body and community?

Here are some concepts to explore…

So what is the role of an initial consultation = to build a relationship.

What is the role of an initial examination = to determine the relationship and communication status in that individual’s biology.

What is the role of the report of findings = to communicate your perception of the state of their body’s relationships and communication, and express how you believe you can help them improve these.

What is the role of your care = to improve the person’s spinal relationships and communication via their central nervous system.

What is the role of an office CA = to support and enhance the human relationship and communication within the office and to facilitate the practice member’s compliance with the agreed program of care.

What is the role of a technical CA = to support and enhance the human and clinical relationship and communication within the treatment room/s and to facilitate the practice member’s participation with the agreed program of care.

What is the role of a progress exam = to review the level of success of the agreed plan, to celebrate positive progress and in the case of null or negative progress to amend the understanding of the relationships and communication.

What is the role of an office educational process = to maximise communication, deepen relationships and to encourage and facilitate the best possible program of care.

What is the role of an office procedural manual = to clearly communicate the methods utilised to perfect the development of win-win relationships between team members and towards practice members.

When I teach a Torque Release Technique Program one of my intents is to improve each clinician’s ability and intuition to perceive the state of relationship and communication within each practice member’s nervous system –I like to think of it a conscious intuition… Find out more about the next TRT program at www.torquerelease.com.au/Torque-Release-Discount.htm

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One Response to “The Secret to Building the Practice of Your Dreams”

Thanks Nick. This is a very easy concept to understand and implement. Plus, like you said, it definitely filters into all aspects of life. The best part about this is knowing that there is someone else out there who feels the same way!